[nykobing]

  Is there any stores that audition Hi-Fi man headphones? I am in San Francisco.

I think Audiovison at Pine at Van Ness does.

 

[chrismini]

I did a Google search for HiFiMAN dealers and didn't come up with anything useful. I've always dealt with headphone purchases online. The downside is returning them is not so easy and you have no idea how well any piece of gear is going to work in your system. If you decide to purchase and hang on your HiFiMAM 'phones, I can't stress the importance of swapping out the stock earpads for the velour pads. The improvement in overall sound quality is unmistakable and they are only $10. The velour pads are available though almost every dealer who carries the HiFiMAN line of gear.

 

[nicholars]

To be honest the HE400 sounds decent even out of my Sansa Clip+ I would not bother spending loads of money on amps and dacs for them.
 
Also if you are looking for portable headphones, do NOT buy the HE400, they are about the least portable headphones I could possibly think of.

 

[richsto]

To be honest the HE400 sounds decent even out of my Sansa Clip+ I would not bother spending loads of money on amps and dacs for them.

Also if you are looking for portable headphones, do NOT buy the HE400, they are about the least portable headphones I could possibly think of.

Agree they sound decent out of many headphone jacks - but a good amp really makes a big improvement. At least to my ears. To each their own I suppose.....

While not necessarily portable they are most definetly transportable. I take them to the office almost every day with little hassle. A shorter, more manageable/durable cable makes this much easier.

 

[chrismini]

I agree with the second part of your post. However a quality amp and\or DAC will greatly improve the sound of every audiophile grade headphones and the HE-400s are no exception. Of course it depends on what you consider to be too much money. My DAC/Amp combo was about $650.(HeadRoom Micro Amp and DAC) which have been discontinued.

 

[richsto]

In my experience some headphones benefit much more than others from quality amps. For example I would never dream of spending so much to amp my Senn HD25's which really seem to be relatively indifferent to what is driving them (differences are small). Very big differences with the HE-400 though. You are right depends on your budget and what you are willing to spend.

 

[chrismini]

I agree completely to what you're saying. Perhaps saying every audiophile headphone was a bit of a reach on my part. It's interesting that HiFiMAN' has a DAC/Amp for less than $200. I wonder how well it would drive the HE-6's which are supposed to be extremely difficult to drive as well as being over $1200.

 

[Caessa]

I purchased these headphones a little over a year ago (alongside a Schiit Magni), and I have to say that I have trouble imagining a better purchase for the money.  I'm still blown away by the sheer clarity of everything that I hear, from all genres of music, at all sound levels.  I put the velours in over the stock pads after about 2 days, and never looked back. 
 
My biggest complaint comes from the build quality.  The screws that attach the cables to the ear pieces are now chronically loose, and I find myself having to fiddle with them almost every time I put the headphones on to get a solid connection.  The screws attaching the headband to the ear pieces have also come loose on several occasions, and when they pop out it kind of freaks me out because it feels like I just broke my $400 (now $300) piece of equipment.  I'd be obliged if anyone has any suggestions concerning the loose screws, because they are the only thing that interrupt me from having a near-perfect experience.

 

[Lohb]

  I purchased these headphones a little over a year ago (alongside a Schiit Magni), and I have to say that I have trouble imagining a better purchase for the money.  I'm still blown away by the sheer clarity of everything that I hear, from all genres of music, at all sound levels.  I put the velours in over the stock pads after about 2 days, and never looked back. 
 
My biggest complaint comes from the build quality.  The screws that attach the cables to the ear pieces are now chronically loose, and I find myself having to fiddle with them almost every time I put the headphones on to get a solid connection.  The screws attaching the headband to the ear pieces have also come loose on several occasions, and when they pop out it kind of freaks me out because it feels like I just broke my $400 (now $300) piece of equipment.  I'd be obliged if anyone has any suggestions concerning the loose screws, because they are the only thing that interrupt me from having a near-perfect experience.

Cables - unscrew both cables out of the headphones and turn each cable in the opposite direction you are going to screw them in (several times)....so there is a bit of tension in them once you insert into the screw hole. The tension should disappear as you screw them fully into the 400's as you are winding back the opposite way.
 
Gimbal screws - epoxy them in or use a dab of a medium glue. You don't want to lose those small screws whatever you do. Make sure your screwdriver fills the entire phillips cross style screw hole as various smaller screwdrivers can fit in the hole but it can shred the thread if you do.

 

[Caessa]

 
Cables - unscrew both cables out of the headphones and turn each cable in the opposite direction you are going to screw them in (several times)....so there is a bit of tension in them once you insert into the screw hole. The tension should disappear as you screw them fully into the 400's as you are winding back the opposite way.
 
Gimbal screws - epoxy them in or use a dab of a medium glue. You don't want to lose those small screws whatever you do. Make sure your screwdriver fills the entire phillips cross style screw hole as various smaller screwdrivers can fit in the hole but it can shred the thread if you do.

I appreciate the comment.  I already do that trick with the cables, since it's the only way to get them to stay put, and yeah I do have a nice set of jewelry screwdrivers for the small screws.  I hadn't considered epoxy before.  Is there some sort of adhesive I could use on the cable nuts to get them to stay, but wouldn't be too hard to get off if I needed a different cable down the road?

 

[Lohb]

 
I appreciate the comment.  I already do that trick with the cables, since it's the only way to get them to stay put, and yeah I do have a nice set of jewelry screwdrivers for the small screws.  I hadn't considered epoxy before.  Is there some sort of adhesive I could use on the cable nuts to get them to stay, but wouldn't be too hard to get off if I needed a different cable down the road?

There is a way to lock in the cables tighter by hand but I forgot as my ones are directly terminated to the planars.
I'm sure someone will tell you how to do it when they read your post......

 

[nicholars]

  I agree with the second part of your post. However a quality amp and\or DAC will greatly improve the sound of every audiophile grade headphones and the HE-400s are no exception. Of course it depends on what you consider to be too much money. My DAC/Amp combo was about $650.(HeadRoom Micro Amp and DAC) which have been discontinued.

 
You might be right, I have only used the HE400 on a few DAC/AMPS so I do not have the experience to say, but in terms of power they definitely do not need a lot to sound good, and out of the DAC's I have tried the differences are minimal, Xonar STX does a decent job with the HE400 but you are probably right that a nicer amp will give some improvements to sound quality, but I would not expect any massive differences, like with some headphones where NEED a expensive / powerful amp to sound good. Probably the HE400 paired with a smooth sounding amp would make them sound better.

 

[nicholars]

Not sure it is a good idea to glue the cables, because although they are annoying, if you snag the cable it will just come out of the connector, if you GLUE them in place and then snag the cable, it might damage the headphones / cable.

 

[Atavax]

i think that one of the reasons why the HE 400s sound so much better for me then my sennheiser 598s is the earpads, i think they better frame my ears and lets me hear a lot more detail in most music along with making music sound much fuller.

 

[nicholars]

  i think that one of the reasons why the HE 400s sound so much better for me then my sennheiser 598s is the earpads, i think they better frame my ears and lets me hear a lot more detail in most music along with making music sound much fuller.

 
Mod them and they will be twice as good.